His feeling of insecurity, said Tolkien, was due to the maiming effect of bereavement.<ref group="note">Tolkien’s wife Edith had died on 29 November 1971.</ref> When he thought, "I must tell Edith about this" he suddenly felt like a castaway on a barren island under a heedless sky after the loss of a great ship. He had felt this way when his mother had died and again after the death of [[Francis Xavier Morgan|Father Francis]], but those griefs came when he was young.

His feeling of insecurity, said Tolkien, was due to the maiming effect of bereavement.<ref group="note">Tolkien’s wife Edith had died on 29 November 1971.</ref> When he thought, "I must tell Edith about this" he suddenly felt like a castaway on a barren island under a heedless sky after the loss of a great ship. He had felt this way when his mother had died and again after the death of [[Francis Xavier Morgan|Father Francis]], but those griefs came when he was young.

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Tolkien called his wife the [[Lúthien|Lúthien Tinúviel]] of his own personal "romance". But now she was gone before [[Beren]] and there was no [[Dor Firn-i-Chuinar|Dor Gyrth i chuinar]] in this Fallen Kingdom of Arda.

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Tolkien called his wife the [[Lúthien|Lúthien Tinúviel]] of his own personal "romance". But now she was gone before [[Beren]] and there was no [[Dor Firn-i-Guinar|Dor Gyrth i chuinar]] in this Fallen Kingdom of Arda.

Summary

Tolkien reported to his son that Merton College had provided him with a flat large enough to hold his surviving library. The arrangement included a merely nominal rent, free furniture, free domestic service, free lunch and dinner all year when in residence, free telephone service, gas and electricity at reduced rates, and the use of two beautiful common-rooms with free writing paper, free newspapers, and mid-morning coffee. It all depended upon his apparent good health, which did not make him feel very secure since he had just been sick from October through December.

His feeling of insecurity, said Tolkien, was due to the maiming effect of bereavement.[note 1] When he thought, "I must tell Edith about this" he suddenly felt like a castaway on a barren island under a heedless sky after the loss of a great ship. He had felt this way when his mother had died and again after the death of Father Francis, but those griefs came when he was young.